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3.2 Trainee pilots are assigned to the various streams of training - fast jets, helicopter or multi-engine - after elementary flying training. Those selected for fast jet training then go for basic fast jet training, undertaken on Tucano aircraft at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Those successful at that stage then undertake advanced fast jet training on Hawk aircraft at RAF Valley. We looked at the wastage rates at those stages to see what they revealed about the flow of trainees through the system. Figure 14 shows actual wastage rates alongside those used to inform planning decisions.

The Tucano is flown on the basic fast jet training course

A trainee and his instructor check their Tucano aircraft

3.3 At RAF Linton-on-Ouse, the failure rate has fallen from 34 per cent in the past to 17 per cent for 1998-99. Failure rates have reduced mainly because streaming used to take place after basic fast jet training, whereas now only those assessed as suitable fast jet candidates start the course. The Agency consider that the wastage rate has fallen further because of a change in culture where the expectation is that trainees should succeed and where instructors are fully committed to the success of their trainees.

Figure 14 A comparison of actual

and planned wastage rates for fast jet training 1997-98 and 1998-99

Wastage rates have been less than planned for two of the three stages of fast jet training. Trainees who fail fast jet training are likely to be restreamed to either helicopter or multi-engine aircraft. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Basic Advanced Course Operational Planned Outturn W asta g e Rate (%)

3.4 While the failure rate at basic fast jet training has reduced in recent years, there has been no sustained reduction in the failure rate on the advanced fast jet training course at RAF Valley. During 1997-98 because of problems with the Hawk aircraft the Agency reduced the throughput of trainees at RAF Valley. Only very high calibre trainees were sent to RAF Valley and during this period the Agency reported a reduced wastage rate - from 25 per cent to 14 per cent. Since then the wastage rate has returned to over 25 per cent.

3.5 In 1997-98 and 1998-99, some 47 per cent of failures at RAF Valley occurred during Phase 1, where trainees learn to fly the Hawk aircraft. Whilst the skills required to fly the aircraft are not significantly different to those learnt at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, the Hawk is the first jet aircraft flown by trainees and is more than twice as fast as the Tucano, and hence there is a need for quicker decision making. The remaining 53 per cent of failures occurred during Phase 2 of the course. This is the advanced tactics and weapons phase during which trainees learn combat and weapons skills that are not taught on any earlier courses in the flying training syllabus.

3.6 The reasons for high wastage at RAF Valley are partly technical - the Agency have not found a way of testing the full range of qualities required to fly fast jets at earlier stages of training, and so issues of speed and weapons training as noted above provide new challenges to trainees. A further factor may be the approach to instruction - as trainees progress through the training pipeline and The Hawk is flown on the advanced fast jet training course.

become more experienced in flying, instructors will tend to demonstrate a technique rather than provide detailed instruction of how to complete a task. Trainees then practise the technique and the instructor assesses the trainee's capabilities and capacity to assimilate new and more complex techniques. Such an approach to instruction may not suit all trainees.

3.7 Instructors at RAF Valley are military staff, drawn from the stock of qualified pilots. They are in two main groups: a selection from the best pilots who have just qualified at Valley, and whose first post-training tour is as an instructor; and experienced operational pilots. To instruct on the advanced tactics and weapons course instructors need to have undertaken a tour with a front line fast jet squadron. Instructors are graded by the Agency's Central Flying School, with experienced instructors assessing the newer instructors. However, their quality is not measured in terms of the success rate of their trainees - because trainees will be taught by several instructors on any given course, and so there is no ready way to monitor the quality of instruction over time. At RAF Valley, there have been instructor shortages from time to time. Partly, that reflects pilot shortages in the Services as a whole. Partly, it reflects the lack of enthusiasm of pilots to be posted to RAF Valley, because of its isolated location, some distance from the main concentration of Royal Air Force Bases in North and East England.

3.8 Overall, however, wastage in fast jet training is no higher than that planned for in setting recruitment targets - targets which have been met. So although wastage is high enough to warrant continued attention (and the Agency are exploring how they might reduce wastage rates), it does not explain the shortfall in output of trained fast jet pilots.